The most powerful marketing tool

Now that companies are able to quickly and widely communicate with their markets through a multitude of inexpensive channels, would you be surprised to learn most still fail to use the most powerful marketing weapon in their arsenal?

It’s sitting there, ready to be deployed and doesn’t cost anything. Most know of it, use it in casual conversation but when it comes to promoting products and services they fail to reach for it.

Have you been cornered by someone anxious to tell you of their product or service and they tell you how great they are at doing what they do? What was your urge? To sign up or get the heck out of there as quick as possible? If you’re like me, you will choose the latter.

Amazingly this is how most companies present themselves to their market. “We do this and we do it great, better than anyone else. We use these widgets and get trained at these conferences. So our quality is top-notch and we know better than anyone how to do this.”

Yawn…

Wouldn’t you be more interested and likely to stick around if it went something more like, “I hear you are experiencing some pain. That can’t be much fun. Did you know that we have had success helping others with that pain?”

Huh? Wait a minute… You can do what for me? If you are feeling that pain, you’re now very interested in what you are hearing. And even if you aren’t, you may know someone who is. So your fight or flight inclination from the earlier conversation isn’t kicking in.

So what’s the difference? How can marketers employ this? Empathy is the answer. This happens when you understand your best prospects, speak to them as people and let them know you understand their pains. And when you understand your prospects’ pain, you understand how best help them relieve the pain. Your product design, bundling, pricing and messaging changes when you become empathetic.

So, starting today, you are no longer going to be a boorish yack-a-matic, blathering on about how great your company is. You are going to be that empathetic real person who has embraced the needs of your target market, recognized their pains and adjusted your offerings and messaging to let them know. Right?